Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Goodnight Field

Goodnight field,goodnight fans.Goodnight footlong hot dog man.

Goodnight drummer,goodnight cheers.Goodnight Pepsi, goodnight beer.Goodnight scoreboard,goodnight hot dog race.Goodnight to the best and worst seats in the place.Goodnight Tribe -what fun you did bring!Goodnight field - we'll see you next Spring.

Fun time at the Prog tonight! Me and 30,945 of my closest friends! The place was "packed" for the final home game of the season - I think this is about my 5th year of going to the final home game. My friend was smart and bought our tickets early this year, so instead of whatever it would have cost for this playoff-like game, we paid like $60 for two great seats down by the tarp. Forethought FTW!!

Did you like it? I did! The crowd was way cool - they've been cool at all 3 games I've been to in the past week. These were the true fans showing up! Lots of cheers for anything remotely good or interesting happening. Giambi with 3 standing ovations. Salazar got a standing ovation when he exited in the 6th. The place went bananas when Masterson came in for the 9th. Every second strike - by every pitcher - set off more loud cheers and chants. I LOVE IT!!!

By the way - if you're wondering why I'm giving a melancholy goodbye to the park when there is still a very real chance that there will be more games played there this year...don't worry! I haven't given up on the season! I'm just not the class of people who gets to go to playoff games. Doesn't bother me - I love all the games on the radio anyway! So I'm cool with saying goodbye to the field now, and it doesn't mean I'm saying goodbye to baseball!

They had the whole crew out pitching again tonight, which was undoubtedly the plan since not only is Salazar on a low pitch count but it's crucial now to save him for playoffs. And to get innings for our 'pen to see who's coming with us in October.

So Salazar went 5 1/3, eight strikeouts and 6 hits. He ended up giving up 2 runs - one in the form of a solo homer and the other in the form of Bryan Shaw letting one of his guys score. But he was throwing that heat and for the most part keeping those Sox at bay!

You guys bring adrenaline to keep us positive all the time, it was a pleasure for me throw the last game home of the regular season
— Danny Salazar (@DannySalazar67) September 26, 2013

The bullpen followed Salazar's 8 strikeouts with 8 more of their own. Not sure if you're familiar, but at the park they have a Circle K strikeout tracker thingy and it's only set up for 14 K's at a time. For the first time ever I saw the sign "turn over" - where they put up a "14" and took down all the K's, only to re-add them again when more strikeouts were thrown. I'm glad the Circle K Strikeout Dancer was properly trained for this situation!

Masterson came out to throw the 9th and he totally put on a show! The people, they were excited. And Masterson was all "Wut? I can throw all day!" He did give up a hit but otherwise struck out 2 and got a ground ball out. BALLGAME!

Like the last game I went to, it SEEMED like everybody hit because so many runs scored, but in reality there were some holes in the lineup. But dudes who didn't get hits were getting sacrifices - Aviles with a sac bunt and Stubbs with a sac fly RBI.

Since Bourn has an injured hand (which led to Giambi being in the game last night!) they had him sit out and put Brantley in at the top spot, which he did last time Bourn had an injured hand, earlier this season. Brantley is still ON FIRE and got 2 singles and a double, going 3 for 5 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored. So that's 17 hits and 8 RBI in his last 9 games.

Imagine if he and Raburn were both playing all the time right now! It'd be a hit fiesta!

Swisher got a big honkin' hit in the form of a 2-run homer in the 5th, with Brantley on base. It added a ton of padding and let everyone really relax!

Kipnis is getting his stuff together again, now with a modest 3-game hitting streak. Tonight he went 1 for 2 with a walk and a run scored, and he got hit by a pitch. Oh and he stole a base. He had a rough night in the field, but somehow didn't get charged with an error. My friend says he needs to shave!

Santana didn't get on base his first two trips to the plate, but as soon as I mentioned to my friend that he rarely doesn't get on base - boom, a single! He also walked and they put in Carson to run for him, and Carson came around to score.

Gomes, man...didn't do a dang thing today. Ouch.

Asdrubal was looking good today, going 2 for 4 with a big 2-RBI, 2-out hit in the 7th to put us up 7-2. He TOTALLY saw my sign today! Totally! He's seen it before and he was probably like "Hmm...I've seen that before, haven't I?" But in Spanish, because he probably talks to himself in Spanish. Anyway, I'm sure he was very proud to play for his fan!

I think I am going to retire my sign this fall, perhaps in a fire if I have another one. I'll make a new one, of course! But this one is so ratty....it's been through 3 seasons, probably 30 games or so. I need to make a new one!

Giambi was the man of the day today! He didn't do too bad, either, with his .187 batting average - he went 1 for 2 with a single and a walk. I wonder how much last night influenced Francona's decision to start him today? The fans wanted it and we got it!

Chiz and Aviles platooned in the 8 spot and at 3rd. Chiz got on on a fielder's choice then came around to score. Aviles had a great sac bunt that eventually led to scoring, and he also had a couple nice plays at third!

You can all thank me but the Tribe's last two biggest wins (9-2, 7-2) were while I was in attendance! Of course, we were 20,000+ strong those days too. But surely I helped!

Now the team is off to Target Field in Minneapolis for a 4-game series. Michael Brantley's proposed (by me) 13-game hitting streak is on the line. Texas is relentlessly winning and so is Tampa Bay, so the Tribe really can't lose anymore. Like, for real.

It's making me pretty stressed out. But these wins SURE ARE FUN!!

Tomorrow will beZMac versus LHP 3.98. It's in the Central Time Zone, so 8:10. See you there!

No Radio Chatter tonight but here are rookies in costumes (they'll probably be in TribeVibe soon, with names...):